Who Knew That Sci-Fi Could Be Reality TV
by SuperWhoLockHiddles
Summary: It's one thing to see someone who looks like you in public; it's another to see them on a TV show. A tense afternoon watching Morgan's new favourite show "Merlin" gets Merlin and Arthur thinking. Merlin thinks about the events in his life, Arthur thinks about his choices. Could it be that a TELEVISION show was more accurate than reality? (This is slash, just so people know!)
1. It's All About Deception

If you know how this all works I'll let you know: As a fanfiction writer, my attention is constantly being pulled and pushed between fandoms. This is the sixth fanfiction I'm trying to write AT THE SAME TIME. If I don't update for a while (and that could be months) don't worry. You can always egg me on and comment telling me how I NEED TO UPDATE NOW, and that might help your cause. If it doesn't...then I'm sorry. I try to update when I feel the next part of the story is right where it should be.

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_"I am an arms dealer, fitting you with weapons in the form of words..."_

_-Fall Out Boy: This Ain't A Scene, It's an Arms Race_

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Chapter 1: It's All About Deception

_**November 4, 2012. 1:45 PM.**_

For Arthur Pendragon it was a completely normal day at Camelot High. This meant that _obviously _something bad was bound to happen; he was suspicious, actually, because his day had been going great so far. It was too perfect to last. If, at the end of the day, things were still perfect, he guessed he could count Vivian flirting with him as the bad thing in his day. He almost wished it wouldn't come to that.

"Guys!" Morgan raced up to her friends and smiled at them. Arthur froze, mid sentence, and his eyes were the size of golf balls. He mentally cursed himself for not remembering to hide from her. "You're coming over after school, right?" She was excited about _something_, and Arthur wasn't sure he was prepared to know what it was.

He had been in the middle of a conversation with Will and Gwen, but in such circumstances Morgan usually assumed her stories took precedence. The second she'd come into view, Gwen's mouth snapped shut. She and Will exchanged glances and let Arthur handle the conversation.

"Morgan…" Arthur said, not even bothering to fake a smile. "I'm only coming over if you promise to tell me, right now, what's going on." Sometimes on days like this—the bad ones—he really couldn't stand her quirky antics for more than 30 seconds. He studied her; she squirmed in place, her mouth became a straight concentrated line, and her nose scrunched up.

She was almost bursting with anticipation.

"Okay!" She finally said, breaking into a grin again. "Remember that 'Camelot Myths' unit in History we finished at the end of last semester?" Arthur fought the urge to point out: _I don't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning_, and stood there with a blank expression.

When Arthur didn't say anything, Will spoke up for him, "Uh…Morgan?" His tone was light and casual—it was the kind of tone you used when telling a child that their pet hamster had "ran away"— and he put his hand on her shoulder in a caring manner.

"Yes?" She drawled happily.

"Sure, we remember doing the unit, and no offense, but…" he looked to Gwen for help; she shook her head and looked away. "We don't actually remember the unit itself. And frankly nobody really cares."

_Oh, that gotta hurt_. For someone like Morgan, hearing bad things about school was almost like crashing a brand new car into the side of a glass house. "Well, 'no offense'," Morgan air-quoted angrily, "But _I _really don't care for your opinion since you aren't intelligent enough to tie your shoe laces correctly!" Will dropped his hand, and looked away dejectedly; Gwen snickered. Arthur remained feigning obliviousness. "Besides," Morgan added, "I'm not the _only _person who cares about school—"

Those few words seemed to throw Arthur back into the conversation; "Don't start this, Morgan," he groaned. "Nobody likes him; he's weird, he's awkward, and he's too quiet. It's almost painful just to think about him."

Morgan looked at him, incredulously. Arthur suddenly felt very small; she was fuming, "Did you ever stop to think that maybe Merlin is just conventional, poised, and humble?" Will, Gwen, and Arthur exchanged glances. It would seem appropriate—in any other situation—to simply say 'no', but one did not _simply_ say '_no'_ to Morgan. (Let alone refuse her in any way, shape, or form.)

Seeing that her friends were in trouble with Morgan, once again, Gwen decided to save their sorry asses, "Weren't you saying something about after school? I really wanted to know what it was. I also think I remember what went on in that History unit!"

Almost as if it were day and night, Morgan's face lit up with happiness.

"Yes!" She exclaimed with a squeal. Arthur and Will gave Gwen grateful looks, and tuned into what Morgan was saying because, let's face it, she may have been a girl but you didn't know wrath until you'd upset Morgan Le Fey. "So, basically, the only interesting unit in History was learning about medieval times and the history of Camelot."

"You mean the _myth_ of Camelot?" Arthur couldn't help but question her; Arthurian legend—corresponding with his name—had actually been a part of school he'd greatly enjoyed the previous semester. He was almost an expert on it.

"Yes." She answered, tight-lipped. "Anyways, I was flipping through the DVD section at the book store when I found a TV series that I think we'd enjoy watching!"

"A TV series…" Will started.

"About history…" Gwen added.

"That we'd _enjoy_?" Arthur's brows furrowed. He'd already upset Morgan _once _today, and he wasn't gunning for another close-encounter with death, but really? What was this, National Geographic? Sensing, and actually understanding, her friend's distress, Morgan decided to clarify, "It's a sci-fi show!"

This seemed to suddenly spark their interest, "What time should we be over?" They asked in perfect unison. Morgan smiled at them feeling victorious, and not revealing her true intentions for the evening. She took out her phone and checked the time, "Two hours?" They all nodded. "Perfect."

And that was how this all got started; this is the story of how Merlin came to be.

_TBC..._


	2. I'm ALWAYS Prepared

Granted I have updated the story twice in one day, and that's mainly because I have, like, four chapters written already. I might post all of them, or I might wait to post the next two. Not really sure yet, but I hope the story is going well!

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_"Sarah Smiles like Sarah doesn't care. She lives in her world so unaware..."_

_-Panic! At the Disco: Sarah Smiles_

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Chapter 2: I'm ALWAYS Prepared

_**November 4, 2012. 4:00PM.**_

"Okay," Morgan said, brows furrowing in concentration as she read the back cover of the DVD case. "So I'm genuinely interested to see how any of this plays into our lives." They were all settled on Morgan's spacious couch, waiting for the DVD to load. Will was sleeping—no surprise there—Gwen was fidgeting in her seat as if she had a secret she was itching to tell, Arthur was stuffing his face as per usual, and Morgan…

Well, Morgan was trying to calm her nerves; she'd done something that she didn't know the repercussions of. If those repercussions were good or bad, she didn't know, but she was worried, nonetheless.

The doorbell rang, and Morgan got up to answer.

"I know, right?" Arthur asked between bites of pizza, "Who wouldn't want to learn about my namesake?" Gwen just rolled her eyes at him, but they understood. And it made perfect sense too; there were characters with the same names as all of them. There was Arthur, Will, Guinevere (Gwen), and Morgan(a), plus a bunch of others who, weirdly enough, had the same names as people at school. Freya being one of them, and the other being...

"Hello." A timid voice sounded from the front hall. Gwen looked away, Will started, Arthur froze in his seats and they listened intently to what was being said. "Hey, come on in!" Morgan's bright voice replied. There was a bit of shuffling, and when Morgan reappeared, she was being followed by a figure that they all recognized.

"So, guys," Morgan said, clearing her throat awkwardly. "This is—"

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_**November 4, 2012. 11:00AM.**_

"Merlin!" Morgan had called, running up to him. He had been walking down the hall on his way to English when she'd stopped him, and while he didn't want to be late, he loved talking to Morgan; she was a good friend…she was his _only _friend. Aside from Gwen, that is.

Merlin grinned at her as she pulled him to the side of the hallway where nobody would bump into them. They were nearly the same height—she might have even been a bit taller—but Merlin couldn't help but feel so small when she was around.

"Hello, Morgan," Merlin said happily. Morgan smiled at him. At least _some _of her friends actually wanted to talk to her. He also just happened to be a completely selfless and funny human being. He was a bit strange, but he was too nice to be around.

"Hey, so I found a TV show all about Arthurian legend, and, oh my, just guess what it's called!" She jumped up and down a little bit and Merlin couldn't help but feel some of her enthusiasm rub off on him.

"I honestly have no idea." He smirked in a quirky sort of way that made Morgan's heart break; why did everyone hate him?

"I guess I can just tell you," she teased. "'Merlin'."

His brows furrowed in confusion, "I'm paying attention."

"No," She giggled, wiggling in place, "The show is called 'Merlin'!" He looked absolutely taken aback; should he be happy, or surprised, or scared? Or all of them? It didn't seem like a decent combination.

"Huh," he said simply flashing his smirk again which, in turn, made Morgan's smile grow. "That's…I don't know what to say to that." He shook his head, and laughed, "So what's up?" She just looked at him innocently. "Oh, come on. You wouldn't have come to talk to me _just _to tell me that there's a show that has the same name as me."

"You know me too well," she admitted, "I have the DVD at my house, and I was going to watch it after school. I was wondering if you wanted to watch it with me."

"I'd love to." He gave her a simple smile before turning to leave—

"Oh, Merlin?" He turned back with a questioning look on his face, "Be prepared."

"I'm like a boy-scout, Morgan." He said, walking backwards. "I'm always prepared."

_TBC..._


	3. Everything I Hate, Plus a Bit More

I decided to just update as much as I had written. Next chapter will be up later tonight? Tomorrow? I can't tell.

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_"I'm just the worst kind of guy to argue with what you might find..."_

_-My Chemical Romance: The Jetset Life is Gonna Kill_ You

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Chapter 3: Everything I Hate, Plus a Bit More

_**November 4, 2012. 4:05 PM.**_

Maybe he hadn't been as prepared as he thought he was, but if Morgan was going to try to get her best (and fairly popular) friends to be _his _friends, he would play along. He had a few classes with Gwen, and they were already friends. Merlin only ever saw Will during lunch, so they hadn't said as much as a word to each other (in fact, he didn't think Will even knew he existed). He saw Morgan before and after school, and in the hallways.

Arthur…well, Arthur was a different story altogether. Merlin was in five of his classes—English, Maths, Science, Music, and Study Hall. They saw each other fairly often, but they were never friendly. In fact, Arthur went out of his way to publicly humiliate Merlin every day. Morgan didn't know; if Merlin told her, Arthur would make his life a living hell [as if it weren't already], and if Arthur had told her, Morgan would have made _Arthur's_ life a living hell. The fact of the matter was, Merlin was on good terms with everyone here.

Everyone except Arthur. But Merlin…well, he was going to play along. "Hello," Merlin smiled brightly at them.

"Hey," Gwen said, reciprocating his enthusiasm. Will just nodded in his direction but scrutinized him. _He doesn't look weird at all. Or socially awkward. Or anything like Arthur said_, Will thought, confusion written all over his face. Morgan stood next to Merlin, smiling triumphantly; things seemed to be playing out exactly as she wanted them to. If this whole experience didn't go horribly wrong, Morgan might actually be able to walk away from this feeling proud that she'd integrated her friends. It was so tiring and time consuming to deal with Arthur and Will, and then hanging out with Gwen and Merlin. Of course, Gwen was in the same boat as Morgan, but she handled it quite well.

Couldn't they all just get along regardless of social status?

Arthur was the only one in the room who looked as awkward as he felt.

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_**November 4, 2012. 11:10 AM.**_

Arthur walked into English class and looked at the back of the room; Merlin wasn't there. He felt _so _relieved. He walked over to his seat, sat down, pulled out his homework and just waited for the bell to ring. He didn't really have any friends in this class so it wasn't hard to be antisocial. Normally people would be bugging him asking him what he's doing on the weekend, after school, who they should ask to prom, blah blah blah.

The bell rang. _People_. Arthur thought, rolling his eyes. But he couldn't be in a bad mood, could he? No! He was in English, and for once Merlin wasn't—

"Well, well, well," the teacher said, clapping his hands in mock appreciation. "Great of you to finally join us Mr. Emrys." Arthur just froze in his seat: _Fuck_.

It wasn't like he hated Merlin, or anything. However, Merlin was everything that Arthur hated; he was sarcastic, he was a smartass, he was good at math, and he wasn't bothered by anything Arthur said. Arthur looked at Merlin as he walked in with that stupid fucking smirk on his face. He laughed a little bit and ignored the looks of annoyance that everyone except Mr. Balinor were shooting in his direction. "I'm late again, aren't I?" He asked still smiling. The teacher just nodded, "What do I say today?" Merlin asked, putting down his stuff, but still standing.

"I don't know," Mr. Balinor said with a look on amusement plastered on his face. "Think of something clever and then get back to me." _God_! Arthur could _not _watch this. It was on his 'Most-Fucking-Annoying-Things-That-Merlin-Does' list.

Merlin sat down and looked off into the distance, thoughtfully, "What if I told you," Merlin started, "That it was Catholic Holy Day of Obligation, and I felt obligated to skip class but willed myself not to because I think these lessons are absolutely riveting, and I wouldn't miss a second of it?" Okay, not only was that the single most stupid idea had Arthur ever heard…it was also funny. Partly funny because English was Merlin's least favourite class. Mainly funny because everyone knew that Merlin didn't go to church, didn't believe in God, and didn't care if he missed class or not; he was still getting A's.

"Well played Mr. Emrys," Mr. Balinor said, laughing a bit. "Well played. Okay class, now that we've wasted ten minutes of class time, let's dive right into Shakespeare, shall we?" Everyone groaned. Everyone, Arthur noticed, except Merlin, who was pulling out his book, and starting to read without being told to.

_English is his least favourite class?_ Arthur thought in confusion. Merlin also wore a look of resignation on his face; he seemed sad, but he was always so…happy? No. He didn't have any friends aside from those who pitied him. Maybe he was just feeling lonely? No, because he never seemed like he cared if he was alone.

So why was he so different now from two seconds ago? Nobody might ever know. But the biggest mystery in all of this? Why, oh why, was Arthur looking at Merlin for in the first place?

_TBC..._


	4. I can't even

Okay so this is some BAD news.

My computer has ALWAYS had a really bad habit of just completely crashing and losing ALL of my memory. To fix this problem, my dad got me a back-up hard drive so I didn't have to lose anything! YAY! ^_^

**_However,_** (and this is the shitty part) the last time I backed up my documents I only THOUGHT I was backing it up, but not really which means I've lost a SHIT TON of stuff, and the really bad news is that I didn't post it on any of my accounts so it's gone forever.

Like...

Fuck this shit.

But now this is a legitimate reason as to why chapters are going to come really slowly.

I'M SO SORRY!


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